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by natashatothemoon
Summary: Set after HoO. What if Percabeth had stopped after Tartarus? What if Annabeth was pulling away from Percy, and had a different, mortal boyfriend? And, what if, a curse ends up putting them right back in the place they tried so hard to avoid...? rated T for language, violence, and sexual innuendo. Proper grammar and such. Review!
1. Nico Throws a Birthday Party

Hi everyone! So while _Hero_ is on hiatus, I got this idea for a cute PJATO story. This is set after the war with Gaea, and The Seven have moved to New York so they can all be around each other. It's a tad dark, just a smidge, but it's filled with lots of fluff.

Summary: Set after HoO. What if Percabeth hadn't happened yet? What if after all this time, they were still only best friends. After the war, they buy an apartment together in NYC, and the real Percabeth begins…

So yeah. Enjoy!

"Annabeth!" I yelled. I was trying unsuccessfully to tame my hair, standing by the mirror in the foyer. "Come on! We're going to be late!"

Living with Annabeth wasn't an easy task. But I put up with it, because I was hopelessly, undoubtedly, head-over-heels in love with her, to which she still knew nothing about.

After the battle with Gaea, our group of demigods decided to settle down in New York, where we could be close. After being around each other for so long, living in the same city seemed like the obvious thing to do. As a reward for helping defeat their grandmother, the gods gave us the apartments, manipulating the mist so we didn't seem like minors and setting up a trust found filled with cash for us to share.

When I proposed that Annabeth and I buy a place together, she agreed without hesitation. During our time in Tartarus, we had formed an unshakeable bond, bringing us closer than ever. Annabeth was everything to me, and I'd hoped that by living together, she might start to love me back someday.

Piper and Reyna originally tried living elsewhere, but they came back. They always come back. Thalia was away with the Hunters a lot, but when she needed a home, she had one here.

"Gods, Perce, I'm coming," Annabeth called, running down the stairs. I had to remind myself to breathe as I took in her appearance. The stunningly simple yet incredibly beautiful black dress fit her athletic body perfectly, her blonde hair naturally curled and loose. _Breathe, _I thought. _It's just Annabeth._

"Percy? What's wrong?" she tugged on her dress, not understanding my reaction.

I shook my head. "Nothing. You look really nice, Annabeth."

She smiled at me. "You too, Seaweed Brain. Now let's go, we're going be late and I have to meet Adrian there."

My blood boiled. I _hated_ Adrian. Annabeth had started seeing him about a year after they moved to New York. He was this tall, muscular blonde dude with a little scar on his cheek. I know what're you're thinking: Wow! He looks just like Luke. Yep, that's what everyone else is thinking too. Annabeth and Thalia were always fighting about Adrian, just because of how similar to Luke he was. It seems like all anyone did lately was fight with Annabeth.

To be fair, she had changed a lot. When we got out of Tartarus, something was different with her. There was a time when they had gotten separated down there, and I had almost lost my mind fighting to get back to her.

She was with Calypso, who we'd found in the pit a little after we fell. I guess after the Titan War, the gods decided she hadn't suffered enough. I mean, there was the fact that Krios had told the Roman demigods that she had helped them break Typhon out, but how could they believe that? After all that she's been through, how could they possibly believe she was anything more than a girl who lived through too much? Even after that exiled her to that island, she never disrespected the gods. She took their decision with grace and bore her punishment in silence. Then she stayed in Tartarus to close the Doors of Death so Annabeth and me could get out. She was a hero, no matter what the gods thought.

But anyway, when I finally fought my way back to them, Annabeth was sobbing uncontrollably, and Calypso was trying to calm her down. She looked up at me through her tearful grey eyes and I felt for the first time that she actually had feelings for me. That she loved me. And she ran to me and kissed me and despite everything, I was whole. I survived in that pit for a month because I had her by my side, in my arms.

But then we got out, and she was distant. Still Annabeth, but she seemed…lost. Angry, but about what I didn't know. It was like everything we'd been through in Tartarus, everything that brought us closer, she'd pushed to the back of her mind and me along with it. We were still best friends, but all traces of us becoming anything more were gone.

"Percy? Percyyyyyy," Annabeth said, waving her hand in front of my face. She held up the car keys. "You ready?"

I rubbed my hands over my face. "Yeah. Yeah, let's go. Do you have Nico's birthday gift?"

"Shit, I forgot. Hold these," she said, dropping the keys into my hand. I smiled and shook my head. "I'll go start the car!" I called up.

I walked outside and smiled at the car my mom and Paul had gotten me as a housewarming gift. A shining blue prius, like the one Blackjack had ruined. I started the engine, rubbing my hands together for warmth as I cranked the heat.

Annabeth came running out minutes later, a big box tucked under her arm. She slid into the front seat and turned the heaters towards her.

The drive to Nico's house took about twenty minutes, because he lived on the lower east side of the city. Annabeth was quiet for the first part of the ride. It was like she'd remembered something unpleasant and it was eating away at her. I sighed, and she snapped out of her trace and looked at me.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"It's nothing. Really," I said. She gave the _oh-come-on-I-know-you're-lying_ look and I faltered. "It's just…why, Annabeth?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "Why, what?"

"Adrian!" I said, getting angry. But she looked like she was going to jump out of the car, so I changed my tone. "Look, I'm not judging you. After Tartarus I can understand—"

"Stop!" she put her hands over her ears. "Percy, I don't want to talk about Tartarus. I don't want to think about it. That place…it almost destroyed us—it almost detroyed me." She looked close to tears. The light turned red, and I went to grab her hand to comfort her. She recoiled from my touch, and looked at me with fearful eyes. "Percy…please. Don't," she begged.

The car behind me honked and we broke our gaze. I'd had this conversation with her so many times before, and yet I couldn't let it go. I just didn't understand why she was acting this way, why she wouldn't talk to me. Even if she didn't love me, we were best friends. That's supposed to mean something.

I pulled into Nico's driveway and turned off the engine. We sat in the car for a while, and it felt like Annabeth was going to say something when Adrian tapped on her window.

"What the hell, Annie. I've been waiting in my car for like 15 minutes," he said as Annabeth opened the door to get out of the car. He put his arm in front of her path and eyed me distastefully. "Jackson," he nodded. "You going to answer me, Annie?"

"Traffic was bad," she explained, slipping under his arm and closing the door. I gritted my teeth and walked up the Nico's front door and knocked, locking the car behind me.

Thalia opened the door and smiled. "Percy!" She was wearing a tight black dress with a chunky black belt and tons of silver jewelry. Her short spikey hair and grown out and now sat straight on her shoulders, her skin glowing slightly with the blessing of Artemis. I gave her a big hug, spinning her around and into the house.

"Thals! I didn't know you were going to be here," I said as I put her down. "Gods, it's good to see you." She was about to reply when Adrian and Annabeth walked in, holding hands.

"Oh great, the bitchy fifteen-year-old is here," he grumbled.

"Oh _Hades,_ no. You did not bring him here," Thalia spat, glaring at Adrian.

Annabeth looked down and glared at her boots. "I didn't know you were home."

I could feel the beginnings of a fight coming on, so I grabbed Thalia around the waist and carried her into the living room where everyone had gathered, kicking and cursing in Ancient Greek the whole way. "Behave. For Nico, okay?" She grumbled unhappily, but agreed.

"Percy!" Everyone yelled as I walk into the room. I plopped Thalia down on the couch next to Reyna, who looked regal in her purple Grecian dress, her long dark hair braided down her back. She smiled at me. "Percy, it's good to see you."

I smiled back. "You too, Reyna. How was your trip to camp?"

She sighed. "I miss it there, but at the same time it's good to be away." I nodded in understanding.

Nico walked up to me, chuckling. "I guess Annabeth brought Adrian again?" He looked so much older, even though he was only turning sixteen. But his dark eyes were less sad than they used to be, and his pale skin had lost its sickly tone. He looked healthier, happier. "Nico, man, how've you been?" I asked, pulling my little cousin into a hug. "And yeah, she brought him."

Nico shook his head good-naturedly. "I really hate that guy."

I patted his back. "Me, too." I looked around. Jason sat on the floor near the fire, playing some sort of card game with Hazel and Frank. His jeans, blue t-shirt and the Sparry's I'd gotten him last year for Christmas looked super casual next to Hazel's gold dress and Frank's tux.

Piper stood up from her chair. "Where's Annabeth?" She looked like a modern day Pocahontas in her tribal print dress and brown tasseled moccasins. Her hair had gotten longer, too, but it was still choppy, still had tiny braids in it, and still very much Piper.

"In the foyer," I said, pointing over my shoulder. "Beware, she brought the cake-slayer." At Piper's birthday a couple months ago, Annabeth had brought Adrian. We tried to make him feel included for Annabeth's sake, so we told him he could cut the cake, which he completely destroyed. Then he blamed it on me and stormed out of the party. He does that.

"I can take him," she joked, putting up her fists as she brushed past me.

"Where's Leo?" I asked.

"He's still at work, but he should be here soon. His shift's almost over," Piper said, walking back into the room arm-in-arm with Annabeth. Adrian sat down in one of the armchairs, his lips turned down into an unattractive pout. Next to me, Thalia tensed, but I gave her a look and she relaxed.

"Hey, Annabeth," Nico said, breaking the silence. A chorus of greetings followed as Nico gave her a hug.

"Happy Birthday, Nico! This is from me and Percy," she said, handing him the box and smiling at me over her shoulder. We'd spent two whole months looking for the perfect present, and we'd finally found it at this antique store on Olympus.

"Aw, thanks guys. You didn't have to get me anything."

"Oh, shut up and open it," I said playfully. Everyone laughed as Nico tore off the paper. He used one of his rings to cut the tape on the box, and gasped when he looked inside. "Gods, you guys, this is incredible." He pulled out a black cane with a silver skeleton on top, like his favorite ring.

Annabeth and I exchanged a look: nailed it.

"Pull on the top," I said. He did as he was told, and the top half came out as a beautiful dagger, black as midnight.

"Is this—?"

"Stygian iron, yep." Annabeth smiled proudly. "Just like your sword."

"This is awesome, thanks guys!" He hugged both of us again.

"Leave it to Percy and Annabeth to out-do everybody else," Frank called out, and I laughed.

"Well, they got nothing on my gift!" Leo called out, shutting the door behind him. He walked into the living room and looked around. "Percy! Thalia!" he hugged us. "I didn't know you guys were coming."

Annabeth cleared her throat, making Leo jump. He turned around and smiled. "Annabeth! How've you been, Owl Face?"

She huffed at the nickname but smiled all the same. "I've been good Leo, how about you?"

"Great! Actually I'm working on this thing—"

"Well, I'm leaving. This is stupid," Adrian cut Leo off, standing up and brushing off his pants.

Annabeth crinkled her brow. "Adrian—"

"No, seriously. I'm sick of hanging out with your band of fucking misfits. And really, Annabeth? You gave a sixteen-year-old a dagger? I'm so done," he said, walking out of the living room.

"Adrian!" Annabeth called out, following after him.

It was silent until Leo clicked his tongue. "Well, I believe it's time to open _my_ gift to Nico," he said, handing him a brown paper bag. "Happy Birthday, Death Breath."

Nico put his cane down and reached inside the bag. "Tequila!" he cheered, setting the huge bottle down on the end table.

"What else?" Leo asked.

He reached in again. "Vodka!"

"One more time," Leo said.

Nico pulled out two twelve packs. "Beer!" We all cheered.

I nodded. "You beat us. Respect, man," I said, giving him a fist bump. "Where did you get all that?"

Leo grinned. "I had to do a favor for Mr. D a while back. It's a long story." Nico and Hazel went to go get shot glasses as me and Jason set up the dinning room table for beer pong.

Now I know what you're thinking: ten underage demigods getting drunk together is super irresponsible. But after all that we'd been through, getting drunk seemed like a rite of passage, and we deserved it.

By the time Annabeth came back in, without Adrian this time, me and Jason were beating Piper and Leo 3-1.

"You really want to miss this shot," Piper said sweetly, and Jason's ball sailed past the island cup he'd aimed for.

"Aw, Pipes; no fair! Charmspeak is cheating!" Jason pouted. She laughed and tossed to ball back to him. "Alright fine, do-over," she agreed, and the ball landed in the cup. My eyes wandered back to Annabeth, who was lining up shots on the coffee table.

"Give me a three, corner cup," I said. Piper arranged the cups into a pyramid and the ball landed in the cup on a bounce, which Leo had been too slow to swat away.

Aw, yeah. Jackson and Grace win again!" We finished our beer in victory and shook our opponents hands.

"Good game, guys," Jason said.

"Hey, Annabeth, line me up some shots, too," I said, sitting on the floor across from her. She lined up three shots for each of us.

"Same rules as always?" I asked.

"Of course," she replied, picking up her glass.

"Alright, I'll start. What happened with you and Adrian?" I asked.

She made a face and took a shot. "Why do you care so much?"

My hands started to sweat. "Because you're my best friend and I care about you." Shrugging, she took another shot.

"We were arguing about you, actually. Well, everyone. He kind of hates all my friends." She pushed a shot closer to me. "There, I answered your first question. Drink." She smirked as I downed it.

"Are you happy with Adrian?"

She smiled. "Nope."

"Fuck, I was sure you weren't going to answer that one," I sulked, taking my second shot. Now we were even.

"You sure you don't want to give up now? You know you always lose," she taunted, her cheeks flushed with alcohol. It's a good thing she always won, because Annabeth was a lightweight.

"Give me your best, Wise Girl."

"Do you like anyone right now?"

My eyes must have been bugging out of my head because she laughed, and my heart leapt at the sound. She pushed her last shot toward me, her grey eyes sparkling triumphantly. "I win!"

"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled, taking both of the shots. Annabeth held out her hand, and I shook it. "You almost had me there, Seaweed Brain."

"One day I'll win, you just wait."

She squeezed my hand and smiled before standing up and fixing her dress. "Piper, I challenge you to a round of beer pong. Frank, be my partner?"

"Sure thing," Frank said, standing up from his poker game with Thalia, Reyna, and Hazel.

Nico shook his head. "This I gotta see."

I took Frank's spot at the table and looked around, the room spinning.

"Yep, I'm drunk."

Reyna let out an uncharacteristic giggle, so I could tell she was trashed. "Perrr-cy," she said, laying down her flush and collecting the pot, "you love Annabeth."

"Yep," I said, taking out some _drachmas_ to cash into the game.

"Why don't you just tell her? Everyone else knows you've been in love with her since you were twelve. She's not stupid, Perce; she probably knows already," Thalia said as she dealt a new hand.

"It's not that simple," I grumbled, shifting through my cards and tapping the table for two more. "She keeps pushing me away."

This techno song came on and Reyna's head snapped up. "Jason, it's that song from camp! The one that was playing on the boombox that hellhound swallowed!"

He came running out of the dinning room, tripping slightly on the rug. "We have to dance. Come on, praetor," he said, pulling her from the table. We laughed at our friend's antics as the danced around the living room.

Leo came over and sat in Reyna's chair, looking over my shoulder at my cards. "Percy has a straight."

"Leoooo," I groaned. He always does this to me whenever we play poker.

"Annabeth needs you anyway, quit your whining. She's sitting on the couch in the study."

"I'll be right back," I said.

"No you wont," Leo called back, and I chuckled.

I walked into the study and sat on the couch. "What'd you need, Wise Girl?" I asked, yawning.

Annabeth turned to me, looking at me with her big grey eyes. "Stay with me?" she asked. "I-I'm tired, but the nightmares…" she trailed off, and I pulled her into my arms and laid back, brushing her hair from her face.

"Yeah, I'll stay with you." Forever.

She pressed her lips to mine, soft and sweet. Before I even had time to register what happened, she rested her head against my chest and fell asleep.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and willed good dreams to come. Boy was I in for it.

So there you have it. Should I continue? Review! And I promise a new chapter of _Hero_ will be up soon.


	2. Annabeth Cooks Me Black Meat

Hey guys! Thanks for all the feedback, it seems like you guys like the story so far and you want me to continue, so here we go. A really fast update before I have to take a week break. I'll update next weekend, I promise. Enjoy!

I really wish I could say I was blessed with good dreams. I had Annabeth cuddling close to me, sighing happily in her sleep. She'd kissed me, and while I was still a little confused, it was definitely a good thing. Unfortunately, I was a demigod. Bad dreams were kind of in the job description.

In my dream I was running down a long white hallway, being chased by the goddess of wisdom. Yep, Athena was after me. Probably because my arm was currently wrapped around her daughter's waist and my heart was beating like crazy. And, well, I was a little excited.

I knew exactly what she was doing. Athena could catch me in a second, but she was tiring me out so that when she finally caught me, I'd have no strength to put up a fight. And after being chased for twenty minutes, she was totally right.

I sat down against the wall, breathing heavily, and waited for Athena to arrive. She came strolling in wearing a white gown and armor, a calculating smile dancing across her lips. I gulped.

She bent down until we were at eye level. "You run really slow."

I grunted in agreement, standing up and bowing slightly. "Lady Athena. Where am I?"

"Olympus. And that's not necessary, Percy. Neither was running away from me like a frightened rabbit," she said. "I just want to talk about Annabeth."

"Listen, if this is about our current sleeping position, it was all my fault, Annabeth had nothing to do with it." The last thing Annabeth needed was an angry visit from her mom. She had enough on her plate.

"Please, Percy. I know exactly what happened. And while I do _not_ approve of you giving her alcohol, I have no problem with you being with her."

"I'm sorry…what?"

"You two have been friends for a very long time, and you've always taken care of her. You helped her get out of Tartarus, and for that I'm forever grateful. There's something bothering her. Something's wrong. I've tried talking to her, but she won't speak to me anymore." Athena cast her eyes down, but I could tell she was upset about not seeing her favorite daughter.

"Something has been off with her lately. I just thought it was Adrian."

Athena made a face. "The _mortal_, yes I'm well aware of him. Why she chose to date him is beyond me. But no, something else is bothering her and—"

"Obviously it's _love_!" Aphrodite said, twirling around. "Hello Percy! Athena."

"Sister, what are you doing here?" Athena asked, putting her face in her palm.

"I needed to talk to Percy," Aphrodite said, shrugging.

"But _I'm_ talking to Percy right now. It's about my daughter's well being," Athena said.

"Wow, same here! Percy, you need to ask her out. I haven't seen love like this since Helen and Paris!" The goddess squealed. "But listen, this is important. She _does _love you, Percy. It's just that something's holding her back. That's all I can tell you."

I just stared, open mouthed, at the goddesses. I half expected Artemis to come out of the woodwork and talk about Annabeth joining the Hunters or something. And when she actually did come, I thought I was going to pass out. The three most powerful goddesses, all standing in this long white hallway, were looking for me. I got ready to bolt again.

"Aphrodite, leave them alone. Obviously this is more important than your foolish love." Artemis came up, grabbing the goddess of love by the ear—which was a funny sight since Artemis was in her preteen form—and dragging her back down the hallway. "She'd be better off with the Hunters anyway."

"Remember what I said, Percy!" Aphrodite called.

"I want to wake up now, please," I said, rubbing my eyes.

"One last thing, hero. The last time I saw her, she let slip that she was worried about a curse."

I stood up straighter, my mind alert. "A curse?"

"Yes, something she heard about in Tartarus. I think it has something to do with you."

"With me? Gods, not again," I said. "Why can't the Fates just leave me alone? Haven't I done enough?"

Athena looked at me sympathetically. "Heroes always have the worst fates, Percy Jackson. For my daughter's sake, I hope they take pity on you."

My eyes snapped open. Worst. Dream. Ever.

Annabeth was still curled up against my side. I smiled and moved the hair out of her face. She stirred, opening her grey eyes and looking up at me.

"Hi."

"Hi," I said, chuckling.

She pushed gently on my chest. "Go make breakfast. It's your turn."

"It's always my turn," I reminded her.

"Well, that's because you never let me cook," she said, closing her eyes again.

"That's because last time you tried to serve me raw meat." I laughed.

She smiled. "That was my bad. In my defense, I was _really_ hung over. What time is it?"

I looked at my watch. "Five-thirty."

She groaned and pushed on my chest again. "Breakfast."

"Alright, alright," I said, untangling myself from my best friend. "I'll wake you when it's ready."

"Percy?" she called out, her eyes still closed. I stopped at the doorway. "Yes?"

"Thank you. For staying," she said. There was so much pain and aguish in the way she said it, like she was in trouble.

"I'll always stay, Annabeth." Without waiting for her reaction, I walked out of the room.

The living room was a huge mess, paper cups littering the floor and the tables. I sighed and started to clean a little bit, just so Hazel and Nico wouldn't have to do it all themselves when we left. Jason was curled up on the floor near Piper and Leo, a blanket thrown around them. Frank had passed out by the fire, using his tux jacket as a blanket. Hazel was asleep on his chest. Nico had knocked out in an armchair, a beer in one hand and his new cane in the other. I suppressed a laugh as I took the beer away from him and threw it in the trash bag.

"Need some help, Kelp Head?" Thalia asked, getting up from her spot on the coach. Reyna stirred across from her, but rolled over and continued sleeping.

"Sure. Annabeth wants breakfast," I added. "Are you hungry?"

"Are you making your mom's blue blueberry pancakes?" she asked hopefully.

"It's the only thing I can make," I laughed.

"Then yes, I'm starving. I'll finish cleaning, you go and start breakfast. I'll come in and help when I'm done."

Thalia and I had gotten very close over the years. She was more like a sister than a cousin to me. We still fought all the time, but it that's just the way family is. If she ever needed me, I'd be there, and the same was true for her. It was like that with our whole group, actually. Everyone got along. It was amazing how relationships had dwindled and developed differently over the years until we all fell into a comfortable pattern. Hazel and Frank were still together, that would probably never change, but Hazel found it scandalous to live with someone before their married, so she and Nico lived together. Jason and Piper and broken up and now remained just good friends. These days it seemed like Piper got along best with Leo, but all three of them had an apartment together, with Frank occasionally coming home when he wasn't at Hazel's house. Probably the strangest relationship to come out of this whole thing was Reyna and Thalia. They lived together in this really nice apartment on the Upper East Side, which was a total waste since they both traveled a lot. But it was little things like that that made our "band of misfits" so close.

I went into the kitchen and shuffled around in the cabinets until I found what I needed and started mixing ingredients together. Leo came in a little while later, yawning and stretching.

"Morning," he called out cheerfully. Leo and Reyna were the only "morning people" in our group. Well, besides Thalia. But that didn't count because she was immortal, and didn't need to sleep for very long.

"Morning," I said back, flipping a blue pancake.

"Oh, sweet! Are you making blue blueberry pancakes?" he asked, leaning over my shoulder.

"Yes. Get out of my cooking space," I joked, pretending to elbow him in the face. He ducked and grabbed a cooked pancake off the plate.

"Gods, Percy. Your mom should open a restaurant and only serve these," he said. "She'd make some serious dough."

Last year we'd all gotten together for my birthday, and we got really trashed at my house (curtsey of Paul). When my mom came home and found a bunch of demigods sleeping in her living room, I thought she was going to ground me for eternity. But she had just sighed, smacked me in the head, and told me to wash some blueberries. When everyone first sat down to eat, they looked at the blue pancakes like it was space food. But Annabeth encouraged them, and pretty soon everyone was obsessing over the pancakes. Whenever we had parties from then on, I was forced to make my mom's pancakes for breakfast, no matter what condition I was in.

I poured more batter onto the pan as Annabeth and Thalia came in, talking and laughing. That was the thing about those two; they'd been best friends for so long it was hard to stay mad at each other. And now that Adrian was gone, they had nothing to fight about anyway.

"We should go and visit your mom today, Percy," Annabeth suggested, taking a seat at the kitchen table. "Since we had to cancel dinner last night." Me and Annabeth—Thalia too, whenever she was home—always went to my mom's apartment for dinner on Saturdays. It was a long-going tradition that we, for the most part, always followed.

"I think Grover comes home today," Thalia said, stabbing at her pancakes. "Him and Juniper should be home from their honeymoon already."

"Oh, you're right! I forgot they come back today. Won't they stop at camp first? We should go and see Chiron, too." Annabeth said.

"Let's just visit everyone we've ever met today," I grumbled, flipping more pancakes. I thought of the visit I'd gotten this morning and grimaced.

"Pancakes!" Piper came in, taking one off Annabeth's plate. I never really understood their whole stealing-breakfast game.

"Hey, Piper, did you still need me to take a look at your car?" Leo asked. He was one of the only demigods I knew who actually had a mortal job. Of course, he ran his own auto shop with a separate department for all your mechanical demigod needs. He made a lot of things for the camps, too.

"Yeah, it keeps making this weird whining sound, like _tsk-chit-chit,_" she said, imitating the noise.

"Alright, I'll follow after you on the way to the shop, just incase it breaks down," he joked.

"Don't jinx it!" Piper complained, her mouth full of pancake.

Reyna came in and closed the curtains, pouring herself a cup of coffee. Leo laughed and tossed her a grape. "Mr. D said we might need these."

Reyna ate the grape and relief instantly flooded her face. "Toss me another one, Jason's _definitely _going to need it," she said, catching the grape and walking back into the dinning room. Hazel and Nico came in as she was leaving, taking a seat at the table.

"Where's Frank?" Leo asked.

"Still sleeping. He was _really_ drunk," Hazel said disapprovingly.

"Oooh, something tells me Frank might actually stay at our apartment tonight." Leo said, laughing.

I finished the last batch of pancakes and sat down at the table next to Annabeth. Reyna came back in with a disheveled-looking Jason and sat him down in a chair.

"Well, last night was fun."

I laughed. "Dude, how can you ever remember it?"

His face got serious. "I don't." Jason and I both had bad memories with not remembering things. I understood his pain.

"What're everyone's plans for today?" Nico asked.

"Me and Reyna are going to do some serious cleaning at our apartment," Thalia said. "It's a huge mess."

"I'm going back to sleep," Jason mumbled, and we laughed.

Annabeth finished her pancakes and put her plate in the sink, standing over my chair and wrapping her arms around my neck. Leo smirked and raised his eyebrows at me and I gave him a look. "Me, Percy, and Thalia are going to visit Mrs. Jackson."

"Oh, tell her I said hello, and I miss her! Your mom is seriously the coolest, Percy," Piper said.

"Yeah, she's pretty great. Want to head out, Annabeth?" I asked.

"Sure, let's go. Bye guys! It was good seeing you. How does Friday at our house sound for Thanksgiving?"

"Sounds perfect," Thalia smiled. "I'll might meet you there, it depends on how cleaning goes. Plus, I have to talk to Leo about my car, too." Somehow I knew that was a lie and she just wanted to stay about gossip about me and Annabeth.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll see you later."

It was colder today than it was yesterday, and the wind whipped right through my thin jacket. Annabeth shivered and moved closer to me, wrapping her arm around my waist as we walked to the car.

"You're in a good mood this morning," I said.

"Let's just say I woke up on the right side of the bed," she said, smiling up at me. I pulled her closer.

There wasn't a lot of traffic, so we got to my mom's apartment in good time. The elevators were down, so we walked up the stairs in silence, heading to the fourth floor. I stopped her before the exit.

"Annabeth," I said, my palms starting to sweat. She looked at me, a tinge a fear in her eyes.

"What is it, Percy?"

"I…what's going on with us?" I asked.

She shifted from foot to foot. "What do you mean? This is silly, let's go." She turned to leave and I grabbed her arm gently.

"Please, just hear me out. I need to know if this is real. Because we were like this before, and then you pulled away from me and I don't know if my heart can take it this time especially after the crazy nightmare-dream thing I had and all the things your mom and Aphrodite said and then Artemis showed up and—"

"Percy! Slow down," she gave me a lopsided grin and grabbed my hand. "I'm not leaving you. I'm not going to leave this time."

"What makes this time different?"

"There was a curse before, but…I think it's gone. I haven't felt it for a few weeks now, and I just, well. I think I'm okay." She said, nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm okay."

I couldn't help it; I kissed her. She grabbed my shirt and pulled herself closer to me, and my heart started beating like crazy. We pulled away and, hand-in-hand, walked up to my mother's apartment door.

Paul opened the door, smiling slightly at our entwined hands. "Percy, Annabeth. Welcome back to our humble abode," he said, ushering us inside. "How was Nico's party?"

We exchanged glances. "It was a lot of fun," I laughed.

"Didn't get too wasted, I hope?"

"Paul, how is it you know everything?" I asked, shaking my head.

"It was that Leo kid, right? I like him. He's a little odd, but I like him." Annabeth laughed at Paul's description of Leo.

"Yep, that sounds about right," she said.

My mom was sitting at the kitchen table in her reading glasses, typing on her computer. Her first book was almost finished and I was really proud of her. She'd worked so hard for so long, she deserved it. She smiled when we came in, getting up and giving us each a hug.

"Will you guys be staying for dinner?" my mom asked.

I looked at Annabeth, who nodded. "Sure, mom."

"Percy, go out back, Paul has something he wanted to show you. Annabeth, dear, could you help me in the kitchen?"

My mom's new apartment building has one, huge backyard for all the residents to share, but she told me hardly no one ever uses it. So when I saw the framework for an enormous doghouse, I wasn't really all that surprised.

"Paul, this is awesome!" I said, walking over to where he was cutting the wood. "Where did you learn to do all this?"

He grinned. "High school shop class. It's for Mrs. O'Leary. She can use it when she visits."

"Won't it be cold in the winter?" I asked.

"Nope. It's heated!" Paul said, really excited about this project. He really was one cool guy. Who else's stepdad would build them a giant doghouse for when his stepson brings his pet hellhound home?

"Do you need any help?"

With me and Paul working side-by-side on the doghouse, time flew by. It felt like we'd just started when Annabeth and my mom called us for dinner. I was a little worried, at first, because normally when Annabeth cooks, fires "appear out of nowhere". But she was with my mom, and she can teach anyone to cook, even Annabeth. Right?

The first thing that hit me as we walked back into the apartment was the smell. Not burning, exactly. It was more like charred to a crisp. Then I saw what was on the plates…gods. Not even _my mom_ can help Annabeth.

It was some sort of meat, I think, although I couldn't really tell considering it was black. The potatoes were—somehow—liquidy, as though they were meant to be a drink. But the worst of all were the carrots. They were brown, and I don't think it was the sugar.

Wearily, me and Paul sat down and tried to eat our inedible dinner. It was the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted in my life.

"This is great, guys," I said, making a show of taking another bite. "Mmm."

Annabeth hadn't even touched her food. She was just sort of looking at it, as though it might run away. "Ohh, I'll go call for take-out," she said, defeated.

We left my mom's apartment around eight, after we'd eaten pizza. Annabeth was still sulking about her failed dinner, so I promised to let her cook tomorrow.

We got home, both thoroughly exhausted. I bid her goodnight and walked into my room, changing into some shorts. I was just getting into bed when the door open slightly, and Annabeth peaked her head in.

"Percy? Can I come in?"

"Of course," I said, moving over and holding up the covers for her. She slid in next to me and snuggled up beside me.

"I love you," I whispered.

"I love you, too, Percy," she said, her voice cracking. I looked down and saw that she was crying, tear rolling down her cheeks and into my chest.

"Annabeth," I said gently, sitting up and pulling her closer to me. "What's wrong?"

"It's the curse," she said miserably, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. "It's back. I thought it was gone, but I can feel it. You wouldn't understand."

"What is this curse you keep talking about? Athena told me the same thing," I said, and her eyebrows crinkled. "Help me understand, Annabeth. Please, I can help you." I wish I could take back those words. I wish I could go back in time, go back to before my impending doom, when it was just me and Annabeth. No curse, no life-or-death situations, just us. But it was too late, and I had sealed my own fate.

"Okay," she said, taking a shaky breath. "I'll tell you."


	3. My Sort of Ex-Girlfriend Curses My Girlf

I'm so sorry it took me so long guys! It's been a hectic week. Ugh, you wouldn't even believe all the crazy shit that's happened. But I wont keep you any longer, and here's chapter three! Sorry if this one's a little short, it's really more of an information chapter before the story reallllly takes off. Next one will be much longer, I promise. You guys are awesome with your reviews and favorites, it's really great. I sincerely thank you. I wrote this story as a way to get rid of my writer's block, and I didn't expect to make it this big of an ordeal, but it's pretty elaborate. It's going to be long, so bear (bare?) with me. Enjoy!

Chapter Three: My Kind of Ex-Girlfriend Curses My Girlfriend

"Calypso did this?" I asked, horrified.

"No, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said, wiping the last of the tears from her eyes. "It's _called_ Calypso's Curse. She warned me about it."

"I don't...I don't understand." I felt sick. What had I done?

Annabeth must've read my mind because she shook her head. "Percy, this is not your fault."

I stayed quiet. This was my fault, and no amount of consoling could change that.

I looked at the clock. It had only been an hour since Annabeth had told me about the curse. I knew Calypso's punishment was that not only did she get stuck with heroes who she couldn't help falling in love with, but heroes who's hearts already belonged to someone else. But I guess there was a part two to the curse. The heroes she fell in love with would all by cursed with horrible fate and she would have to live knowing it was all her fault, and the hero and his lover would both die horrible deaths, alone. But wait, I haven't even told you the best part: there was no known cure. Calypso had told her that if she stayed away from me, it might not affect us. But that's easier said than done.

"What do we do?" Annabeth asked, fear creeping into her voice.

I pulled her to my side, lying back on the bed. "I don't know, Wise Girl," I said. She started to cry again and I held her tighter. "But hey, it's us. We always figure things out. We'll sleep, and then tomorrow we'll look for a cure. Which we _will_ find. I promise," I whispered, kissing her head. Eventually her cries quieted and her breathing became steady as she fell asleep. I pulled her closer. We had already lost each other so many times, and I would make damn fucking sure I'd never lose her again.

The next morning, before Annabeth woke up, I called Nico and told him about the curse.

"Holy crap, Perce. I'm sorry," he said.

I rubbed my eyes. "It's just…shitty timing, you know?"

"Yeah." He sighed into the phone. "Zeus…"

"Listen, I need your help," I said.

"Anything, man. What do you need?" he asked.

"I need you to do some digging around the underworld."

There was a pause on the other end. "In Hades? What for?"

"This curse would've affected other guys, caused them to die really painful deaths," I explained. "I need you to find heroes who've been stranded on Calypso's island, Ogygia."

"Oh course, I'll get right on it. Anything in particular I should ask them about?" Nico asked.

"Yeah. Ask them about a cure to Calypso's Curse."

After I hung up with Nico, I made some eggs and toast, carrying it back up to my room. Annabeth was just waking up, stretching her back like a cat.

"Morning," I said, giving her a small smile and setting the tray down in front of her.

"Thank you," she said quietly, giving me a smile in return.

She ate her breakfast in silence, stealing glances my way as she chewed.

"_Drachma_ for your thoughts?" I asked. She cracked a smile at my lame joke.

"I'm just waiting for you to disappear, or spontaneously combust while I'm not looking," she said, avoiding my eyes. Of course. The curse.

"I called Nico this morning. He's going to help us," I said.

Annabeth nodded. "That was a good idea, Percy."

"Maybe you should start calling me Wise Boy," I teased.

"Fat chance."

We sat in silence for a while as Annabeth finished her breakfast. I cleared my throat. "Maybe we should go and talk to your mom. She's worried about you."

Annabeth set down her fork and pushed the tray away. "I know. We'll talk to her. But first we should go see Grover. We didn't get a chance to yesterday."

"Alright," I agreed.

"And don't think I've forgotten about your promise to let me cook today!" she said. _Damn._

"You're too smart for me.," I grumbled.

We got ready and headed out to the Prius. I held Annabeth's hand as we drove to camp, probably a lot tighter than was necessary. But after all that stuff she said about disappearing and combusting…I wasn't taking any chances.

We trudged up Half-Blood Hill with our hands still tightly clasped. As soon as we passed the magical barrier into camp, we were immediately attacked.

"Hey, it's the lovebirds! We heard you guys were together!" Travis and Conner ran up to us, engulfing Annabeth and I in tight hugs. We looked at each other and tried our hardest to smile.

"Hey guys, how's camp?" I asked, ignoring their comment about me and Annabeth.

"Things are awesome here! We got 25 new campers this week, all claimed," Travis beamed proudly.

"That's great you guys!" Annabeth said, her smile genuine. She looked past the two brothers, taking in the view of the strawberry fields, which were alive with growth despite the winter air.

"Have you seen—?"

"Annabeth! Perrr-cy!" Grover bleated, tackling us into a group hug. "I missed you guys so much!"

"Found him," I said. "How was the honeymoon?"

"Oh, it was absolutely lovely!" Juniper said, coming down the hill to stand by Grover. "Thank you guys so much for moving my tree."

"We'll see you guys around," Conner said, leading his brother towards the big house with a mischievous look on his face.

"You look great, Juniper," Annabeth said. "Where's Chiron?"

"He's by the volleyball courts. Festus set the net on fire again." I smiled at the thought of Leo's bronze dragon.

"I'm going to go talk to him," Annabeth said. "Juniper, come with me?"

Once Grover and I were alone, he dropped his smile and his face got that worried look he gets when he's anxious. "I felt our empathy link going crazy. What's wrong?"

I told him about the curse.

"Oh, no!" he said, on the verge of tears. "This is horrible!"

"Tell me about it," I mumbled, kicking some dirt around with my shoe.

"What are we going to do?" Grover asked.

"_You_ are going to stay here with your wife," I said. "Juniper would kill me if I let you go off on some crazy wild goose chase for a cure that might not exist. You just got _married_!"

Grover wrung his hands nervously. "I guess you're right. But you have to let me know the second anything happens, okay? You're my best friend, Percy." He gave me another hug, wiping his eyes on his shirt. "Is Annabeth telling Chiron?"

"Yeah." I kicked some more dirt around.

"He's probably going to call an emergency meeting, this is pretty serious."

"Shit, I hadn't even thought about that. I only told Nico." A thought occurred to me. "Holy fuck Thalia's going to kill me." Grover 's face was solemn.

"You're a dead man."

X

"Perseus Jackson!' Thalia shrieked, running over and tackling me to the ground. "Why. Didn't. You. Tell me!" she yelled, punctuating each word with a smack to my head.

"I didn't want to burden you—"

"BURDEN ME? Oh, _Hades,_ no," she said, notching an arrowing in her bow. Leo and Jason pulled her off of me and I got up, wincing.

"Damn you," Thalia said, her voice cracking. She pulled me into a tight hug. I hugged her back.

"I'm so sorry, Thals."

"It's okay." She pulled back, her eyes red and puffy. "Never do that again."

I was about to reply when a bright light flashed. We covered our eyes from the glow. People gasped and bowed as my father walked up to me.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" I asked as he pulled me into a hug. Man, I was getting a lot of those today.

"My son, I'm so sorry." His wary face showed his true age for once. He looked so sad.

"It's okay, really..." I said, my voice finally cracking. He pulled me closer and I wept, really cried for the first time since I found out.

"I can't lose her, dad."

He looked down at me sadly, his hand squeezing my shoulder. "I know, son."

Annabeth came up to us, concern etched in her face. "Percy what's—oh my gods," she said as Poseidon pulled her into a hug, too.

I'm so sorry this has happened to you kids. I really thought..." He looked at me, but he didn't have to finish; I knew what he meant. _Really thought we'd live._

"Stop talking to them like they're already dead, Poseidon." Athena strode over to us, putting her arms protectively around Annabeth. She didn't mention the hug.

"Lady Athena, I'm so sorry. I didn't know about the curse and…" I trailed off, tears forming in my eyes again. Annabeth grabbed my hand and squeezed.

"Percy, I do not blame you. I blame that wretched sorceress."

"Calypso?" I asked, anger rising in my throat. I felt Annabeth tense beside me. Her and Calypso had gotten very close during our time in Tartarus. "She didn't put this curse on us, the gods did! It's part of your punishment. Like the Fates aren't cruel enough."

They were silent. After a moment, Athena recovered. "What do you mean, part of her punishment?"

"Whoever exiled her to Ogygia out that curse on her as part of her punishment. So she would have to live with the knowledge that their deaths were her fault. That's why she warned Annabeth about it."

"He's right, mom, Calypso's innocent. She's a hero," Annabeth said fiercely.

Poseidon and Athena exchanged glances. "It would appear we have some digging of our own to do," she said carefully. "We'll let you know what we find. Poseidon, do you remember…" There was a flash of golden light, and they were gone.

"Come on, Percy," Annabeth said, tugging on my hand. "Let's go start the council."

All the head counselors were already in the room along with our group, who looked really sad. Piper was crying and holding Leo's hand as he did his best to try and soothe her, but he looked like he was going to cry himself.

Reyna came up to us, the only indication of her sadness her red-rimmed eyes. "Annabeth, Thalia was looking for you," she said, her voice weak.

"I'll go talk to her," Annabeth said, sniffing. Once she was gone, Reyna turned back to me. "Walk with me?"

Suspicious, I nodded and followed her into a vacant corner of the room, where our conversation wouldn't be overheard.

"I might know a cure," she said, holding up her hand as I opened my mouth to speak. "But it's incredibly dangerous. I wanted to tell you before I mentioned anything to Annabeth. It's…an almost impossible journey."

I picked at the skin around my nails. Did I really want to risk her life just so we could be together? But then again, if we didn't risk it, we would both die anyway.

"What's the cure?" I asked.

"Reyna took a deep breath. "Percy, before I tell you, promise me you won't do anything rash. This isn't even a for sure thing, it's just a rumor I heard back on Circe's island."

"You know I can't promise that, Rey."

She sighed and ran a hand through her silky black hair. "Worth a shot."

"Percy! Percy I found it! I found the cure!" Nico came running into the room, breathing heavily as Hazel ran after him. "It's incredibly dangerous. Really, really, dangerous. But I think it's do-able!"

"I think it's time we convened this council," Chiron said, taking his place at the front of the room. We all took our places around the ping pong table, a hopeful murmur passing through the small crowd. "Nico, tell us what you've found."

Nico stood up, his cane in hand. "Well, I did as Percy said, and I went into the Underworld to find people who'd also been cursed. I ended up talking to Odysseus, who told me of the cure. He tried to do it when he found out about the curse, but his wife was too weak to make the journey and she died along the way."

"Woah, plot twist," Leo mumbled, earning him a smack from Piper.

"Anyway, he said both of you have to bathe in the seven rivers of Hades to be rid of the curse."

Silence. The air in the room grew colder, and I could feel everyone losing hope. I looked at Reyna and she nodded, confirming what she'd heard from Circe's island. Tears were flowing freely from her face now as she wrapped her arm around Thalia, who had started to cry.

I remembered my dip in the Styx, and I shuddered. Annabeth looked at me, and I could feel tears pricking at my eyes as her beautiful grey eyes filled with fear. We both reached out our hands and held tightly to each other, because we knew no one else would understand what this meant for us. No one could understand the pain and sorrow that we were feeling right now. Because even after all of our efforts, all of our constant reassurances time after time that it was all ancient history, we were going back into the Underworld.


End file.
